10 Things You Need To Know This Morning

Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighters
release flares as they perform during the "Russia Arms Expo 2013"
9th international exhibition of arms, military equipment and
ammunition, in the Urals city of Nizhny Tagil, September 25,
2013.REUTERS/Sergei
Karpukhin

Good morning. Here's what you need to know.

Markets in Asia were mixed in overnight trading. The Japanese
Nikkei 225 rose 1.2%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 0.4%, and the
Shanghai Composite fell 1.9%. European markets are in the red
across the board, led lower by Italy, currently down 1.7%. In the
United States, futures point to a positive open.

British GDP
rose 0.7% in Q2 according to the final reading, in line
with previous estimates. The Q2 expansion marks the fastest
pace of growth in three years. Business investment, however,
unexpectedly plunged 2.7%. The previous estimate of Q2 GDP
showed a 0.9% rise in business investment.

Barclays
plans to shutter its wealth management business in about
130 countries by 2016 in a plan to cut costs at the U.K.
investment bank. "This is part of our new strategy,
focusing on reducing complexity and competing where we can
win," a Barclays spokesman said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempted to reassure
investors of his economic turnaround plan,
saying in a speech that referred repeatedly to fictional
character Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street,
"Today, I have come to tell you that Japan will once
again be a country where there is money to be made, and that
just as Gordon Gekko made a comeback in the financial world...
so too can we now say that 'Japan is Back'."

The final estimate of Q2 U.S. GDP growth is released at 8:30
AM ET. Economists predict the report will reveal that the
American economy grew 2.6% annualized in Q2, better than the
previous
2.5% estimate. Q2 personal consumption growth is expected to
clock in at 1.9%, up slightly from the previous 1.8% estimate,
and core PCE is expected to be unchanged at 0.8%.

Weekly jobless claims figures are also out at 8:30.
Economists predict initial claims rose to 325,000 in the week
ended September 20 from 309,000 in the previous week. Continuing
claims in the week ended September 13 are expected to have risen
to 2.818 million from 2.787 million the week before.

August pending home sales data are released at 10 AM.
Economists predict sales fell 1.0% last month after a 1.3% drop
in July, bringing the year-over-year growth rate down to 6.3%
from 8.6%.

Rounding out the data is the Kansas City Fed's monthly report
on regional manufacturing, due out at 11 AM. Economists expect
the headline index remained unchanged at 8 in September,
suggesting a continued expansion of business activity in the
region. Follow
all of the data LIVE on Business Insider »

At 10:10 AM, Fed governor Jeremy Stein gives a
speech titled: "Yield-Oriented Investors and the Monetary
Transmission Mechanism" at Goethe University in Frankfurt,
Germany. A Q&A will follow.

At 12:15 PM, Minneapolis Fed president
Narayana Kocherlakota will speak on a topic to be decided to
the Houghton Rotary in Michigan, also with a subsequent
Q&A.